Sailormoon - Beautiful Dreams
by The Hellion
Summary: Chapter 3 - It seems the Outers have left the other senshi to fend for themselves, but is all as it seems? The enemy, eager to test their newest weapon, have no intention of letting Uranus and Neptune sit idly by and watch.
1. New Enemies

Sailor Moon: Beautiful Dreams

> _Prologue_
> 
> Sailor Mars does not know why she is here, or where "here" is, for that matter. She knows nothing of what she was doing only moments ago. As if she had somehow just awakened to this pale and dreary world. All around her, in every direction, she saw utter lifelessness. Not so much death, as anti-life itself. The buildings, the cars, the sky, all seemingly devoid of any life, color, or movement. There are no trees or plant life to be seen anywhere. No signs on any buildings or on any street corners. She only now notices that there is no wind, not even the slightest movement of air around her. As though even the air itself had died. She imagined that even if she were to look, she would not even find an insect anywhere in a thousand miles, or if she had a microscope, even the slightest trace of bacteria. The entire world, for as far as the eye could see, had been utterly and completely sterilized. Her footsteps on the asphalt of the street as she walked was the only sound she could here. She looked up, and was not surprised by what she saw. The sky was a colorless, gray, haze. Endless and eternal. It said a great deal about this world. Mars wondered if this was the past, or the future. She wondered if it was Earth, or some alien world. She dreaded the very idea that this might be her home, but she didn't recognize anything. She wondered if what had happened here had been the result of some horrible weapon used, something that could not only wipe out every form of life on a planet, but the heart and soul of a planet as well.
> 
> Through the haze in the distance, Mars' eyes begin to focus on a shape. As she nears it, she can now make out what it is. A large cross, planted in the middle of a large intersection. The sky is so hazy that she can not make out the details of it, so she continues to walk. She comes to realize what a terribly lonely sound her footsteps are, when they are seemingly the only sounds in the world. She blinks and now finds herself instantly standing before it. The mammoth, steel cross stands at least twenty feet tall, and Sailor Mars feels her heart ache when she looks up and meets Usagi's gaze. Metal spikes have been driven through her wrists, holding her to the structure, and her her entire body scourged and bleeding. Rivulets of red, the only color in this entire grey world, run down the metal structure to pool at its base.
> 
> "Usagi..." Mars speaks, barely above a whisper. Her voice cracking from the pain of the sight before her. Tears begin to well up in her eyes. Nothing, no horror she had ever encountered in her life could have prepared her for the sight of her dearest friend in such a manner.
> 
> "Rei-chan... " Usagi says in a voice barely audible from its weakness. "...why... why did they do this to me?" Blood pours out of her mouth and tears from her eyes as she speaks the words.
> 
> "Who... who did this to you?" Mars asks, the tears now flowing freely down her cheeks. Mars sees Usagi's eyes focusing on something behind her. Instinctively, Mars turns to face who or whatever it is. She sees, and feels, only the blade of a burning sword being driven through her body, setting her on fire from the inside.
> 
> Rei's eyes bolted open as she lay on her bed in the relative safety her bedroom. She did not scream. Her body, for several seconds, was paralyzed. All she could see was the ceiling above her and all she could feel was the horrible pain in her stomach where the dream-sword had run her though. Little by little, other sensations slowly became aware to her. Her hand was shaking slightly. The sweat that coated her entire body felt clammy, and there were tears starting to form around her eyes. For several seconds she cried. Slowly, she swallowed hard, and moved her arms behind her to tilt herself upright. It was a slow and delicate process, as a part of her was still wondering if she was alive and where, exactly, she was. She attempted to stand up and recoiled slightly from the dull ache in her stomach. She pulled her nightgown up and looked. As expected, there was no sign of any injury, just a phantom pain. Looking around her, she finally sat back down on the side of her bed and wiped the tears from her face.
> 
> "Just... just a dream." She finally said.
> 
> No, she thought. Not **_just_** a dream. Her body was still shaking slightly. She rarely remembered dreams more than a few minutes after she had awakened. The image of Usagi, bleeding and crucified, as well as the pain and shock of her own death, would be etched into her mind for some time.
> 
> Upon remembering the image, she cried for several minutes more.
> 
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> 
> **Sailor Moon: Beautiful Dreams - Chapter 1**
> 
> By Captain Zefram Man
> 
> Sailor moon, the Sailor Senshi, and all related characters are TM and copyright their respective owners, who aren't me. This story and all parts there of are mine alone are and protected by copyright law. This story may not be reposted without the express permission of the author (except for Mystery Science Theater purposes), namely me, so please ask first.
> 
> Note: This story takes place after Super S and does not include Stars in the continuity. Sorry, I was determined to write this and I won't be seeing the fifth season for some time.
> 
> This fic is rated PG-13
> 
> _"Beauty is in the eye of the beholder." _- Unknown
> 
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> 
> Tsukino Usagi quietly slept in her own bed, dreaming of being in her lover's arms.
> 
> "Mamo-chan." She said, smiling a playful grin as she slept.
> 
> The black cat drearily looked up at the sound. Yawning, she blinked and looked over at the clock on the nightstand.
> 
> "Four AM?" Luna said to herself. "I'll never get back to sleep now." Luna, in the slim hope that sleep might still reclaim her, though, lay back down on the foot of the bed. Only to be startled awake again by a beeping coming from the nightstand. She looked up to see Usagi, only half-asleep, answer the call.
> 
> "Mamo-chan." Usagi slurred.
> 
> "Usagi?" the voice from the communicator asked. It was Rei.
> 
> Usagi rolled over and the communicator slid from her hand and fell to the floor.
> 
> "Usagi? USAGI?" Rei's voice quickly filled with panic.
> 
> "Rei-chan, what's wrong?" Luna's voice responded. She was now seated in front of the communicator and whispered to avoid waking Usagi from her dream. At least one of us should get a full night of sleep tonight, she thought.
> 
> "Luna?" Rei asked. "What happened? Is Usagi there, is she all right?"
> 
> "She's asleep, what on Earth is wrong, Rei-chan?" Luna yawned again.
> 
> Rei considered her words. "N... nothing, Luna. I'm... I'm sorry if I woke you up." She switched off the communicator before Luna could persist.
> 
> Luna sat for a moment, and now began to do what she was seemingly best at... worry.
> 
> *******
> 
> The next morning found one Tenoh Haruka in her apartment in the city. She sat at the window in her pajamas, looking out over the glass and steel landscape. She sipped her coffee and, for a moment, enjoyed the sound of nothing. Michiru stepped out early to do some shopping and decided to let Haruka sleep in. Although there was little, if anything, that Haruka enjoyed more than simply being with Michiru, she still liked a moment where the only voice was that of the wind in the open window. The sound of the doorbell woke Haruka from the zen-like state she had drifted into. Tossing on a robe, she opened the door to find Hino Rei.
> 
> "Er... Rei-chan?" Haruka said. It was the first time she'd known any of the other senshi had come to visit, especially at such an early hour.
> 
> "Haruka-san, I'm sorry to come like this uninvited, but I really needed to talk with someone."
> 
> "No, it's all right." Over the years, Haruka and Michiru had learned to read each other to a point where they scarcely needed words to convey their feelings. She knew just from the look in Rei's eyes, the tone of her voice, that something was bothering her. She sat on the sofa opposite of Rei and asked what was wrong. She listened intently as Rei, in terrible detail, recalled the events of her dream. Haruka didn't know Rei as well as the others did, but she had heard about her abilities to see the future. If it weren't for the visions she and Michiru had had of The Silence approaching last year, she would never have believed in such things. Suddenly remembering that she was a reincarnated warrior from a kingdom on the moon, she quickly put what was left of her skepticism in a box and hid it in a corner of her mind. "Have... you told Odango or the others about this?" Haruka asked, using the pet-name she had for Usagi.
> 
> "Not yet. We are all going to meet at the shrine later so I figured I would tell them then." Rei said with some difficulty. "And... I don't think I could bring myself to tell Usagi... the details."
> 
> "But... you told me." Haruka, more as a statement of fact than anything.
> 
> "I knew that you and Michiru... that you might understand what it meant better than the others would." She looked up at Haruka. "You've seen the kind of visions that I have before, the kind of death and destruction, I was wondering if... you might know what any of it might mean."
> 
> "No, I can't really be sure." Haruka said, shaking her head. Rei had obviously come here because she saw her and Michiru as a source of strength, an image they do their best to convey in battle. She wasn't about to reveal just how badly the details of the dream had shaken her. She was grateful that she hadn't seen what Rei had.
> 
> *******
> 
> That day, as expected, found all five girls and both cats in the den of Rei's home. Rei was still waiting for the right moment to tell them a new enemy might be approaching.
> 
> "So what does he look like?" Minako asked.
> 
> "Is he handsome?" Usagi pressed.
> 
> "Who?" Rei asked.
> 
> "Ami's pen-pal on the internet." Usagi said.
> 
> "A russian chess player, they play each other on-line." Minako continued.
> 
> "I don't know, honestly, I've never seen him." Ami defensively said.
> 
> "If he's russian, then maybe he looks like Micheal Barishnikof." Makoto dreamily said.
> 
> "Or a great bear." Rei interjected.
> 
> The image of a stereotypical three hundred pound Russian with a thick, black beard cuddling Ami almost sent the entire room on it's ear. Luna, nursing a rather large headache, finally decided to intervene.
> 
> "_ENOUGH ALREADY!!!_"
> 
> The entire room froze and all eyes turned to look at Luna.
> 
> "This is no time for games, I asked all of you here on a very serious matter." Luna said curtly.
> 
> "Wha... what's wrong Luna?" Makoto asked.
> 
> "Is it the new enemy?" Minako asked, ready for action now and with no trace of the levity present only moments ago.
> 
> Rei almost spilled her tea.
> 
> "It's a situation I've feared the approach of for many months, and one I fear we are **_not_** prepared for. What is now coming may be the greatest challenge that you have ever had to face, and I fear that it may be impossible. From what I see here, you may not be able to handle it.
> 
> Artemis winced. He had never known Luna to sound so serious, or the girls to ever be unprepared for a challenge. Whatever Luna was talking about, he could see the girls were now visibly afraid.
> 
> "No, I won't accept that." Rei said defiantly. "You know that whatever happens, Luna, the Sailor Senshi will always be ready to fight with all our hearts to win."
> 
> "That's right!" Makoto said. "Whatever this great challenge is, we can win, Luna."
> 
> "Luna." Usagi began. "What could possibly be so terrible that you think we can't handle it, especially after all we've been through? What could be worse than the Dark Kingdom, The Black Moon, The Death Busters, and The Dead Moon Circus?"
> 
> Luna sighed. "I fear this will be more difficult than facing any of the enemies you've had up to this point." Luna said gravely.
> 
> All of the senshi fell silent as Luna continued. They leaned in closer...
> 
> "We must now prepare for what may be the impossible itself."
> 
> ... and closer...
> 
> "We must help Usagi pass final exams."
> 
> ... and fell flat on their faces.
> 
> "LUNA!!! How could you possibly make such a big deal about that!?!?" Usagi cried in protest.
> 
> "It was very easy after I saw your last report card." The cat said deadpanly.
> 
> Usagi fell on the floor again. "Ack... you're heartless!" She whimpered.
> 
> All the senshi were still recovering from Luna's joke. None of them would complain about her being too serious anytime soon. Ami was simply thankful she wasn't in the spotlight anymore.
> 
> Luna jumped on Usagi's chest and yelled right in her face. "This isn't a joke, Usagi! What will your parents say if you fail your final exams?"
> 
> Minako replied in a perfect imitation of Usagi's mother. "Oh Kenji! Our daughter has brought such terrible shame on all our family. From now on you will have to go to work, and I shopping, with bags over our heads... or a "mask of shame" like Zechs Marquis."
> 
> Rei continued in an impression of Usagi's father. "What, like you were surprised, Ikoku?"
> 
> "WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!" Usagi cried. "I don't want my family to wear masks of shame!!!"
> 
> "Except Shingo and Chibi-Usa." Rei said. They'll just go on calling you "Bakka-Usagi", only this time they'll have the proof to back it up when you get back the test results.
> 
> Usagi was crying even more now, and it was easily the loudest she had cried in years. Rei's grandfather suddenly burst in. "What in the Kamis' name is happening here?"
> 
> "Nothing, grampa." Rei said, defensively. "We're telling Usagi what will happen if she fails her high school entrance exam. I haven't gotten to the part about her being eaten by hungry ghosts yet."
> 
> "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!" Usagi glomped onto Rei's grandfather and started crying into his robes. "I don't want to be eaten by hungry ghosts!"
> 
> "REI-CHAN!" Grandfather Hino said disapprovingly to his granddaughter, who was trying not to laugh herself unconscious. Grampa turned to the wailing girl. "Usagi, no ghosts are going to eat you if you fail the exam."
> 
> Usagi's crying slowed to a few sniffles.
> 
> "Now you're ancestors are another story, they might haunt you out of the shame you brought them. But you can always find refuge here and become an acolyte." Grampa said.
> 
> "Assuming you're not forced into prostitution to make ends meet." Rei replied.
> 
> Usagi turned blue and passed out. Ami sprayed her tea on Minako, the other senshi and cats sweatdropped, and Grandfather Hino shot Rei a most disapproving look while Rei herself smiled innocently.
> 
> *******
> 
> In a large room, hewn of living stone, the image of a man appeared. His long, green hair offsetting the tan and grey uniform he wore. He and his two comrades, also present via magical projection, looked up at a throne, also carved from the same grey stone as the room, where a woman sat. Her skin was grey, and her hair a deep violet. She was dressed plainly, in a cloak and leathers. To her sides were two blue-skinned women. One, quite powerfully built and wearing light armor, the other, more slight of build and much less imposing.
> 
> "Malech, tell me, how goes the plan?" The woman on the throne asked, her voice resonating a great strength.
> 
> "It proceeds as we speak, M'Lady." The green-haired man replied. "The dimensional fabric will be breached soon."
> 
> "Excellent. I see that your reputations were not exaggerated after all." She said as she smiled slightly. "Continue, Malach, and force open the way to the Earth Realm for us."
> 
> "I also have news from the mages' lab." He continued "The experiment is ready to begin."
> 
> "You were successful then?"
> 
> "We believe so. If this works, your shortage of... manpower, will no longer be a consideration." He replied. "I will be waiting just outside the location to confirm success. Barring interference, all should go as planned."
> 
> The woman smiled. "Excellent, proceed."
> 
> In the center of the shopping mall, a janitor quietly went about his work making sure everything was tidy for when the stores opened. Had he looked more closely at the "Spicy Chikan" stand, he would not have noticed the invisible, imperceptible hole being forced open in the dimensional barrier that separated this world from others.
> 
> *******
> 
> Luna almost went into a fury when Usagi suggested going to the mall, but Makoto diffused the situation saying it would be the last chance they got for a month. Rei was uneasy, but none of the others seemed to notice. There were far too many things that caught everyones' eye and Rei decided that if she told them about her dream, it would only distract Usagi when she needed to focus more than ever. Rei decided to enjoy her time here with the others as best she could and hope her nightmare had been only that.
> 
> It wasn't long before Usagi stopped at a display of a video game store. "Oh Minako-chan." she called in a musical voice.
> 
> "Hmm... what? What is it?"
> 
> Usagi moved and Minako's jaw gaped at the site. "What the... They licensed Sailor V as a character in a martial arts fighting game?!?!"
> 
> "WOW! COOL!!!." Makoto said.
> 
> "I wonder if you have a Fatality Move?" Usagi asked, deliberately ribbing Minako.
> 
> "I bet it's something nasty." Makoto replied. "Like using your Crescent Beam to decapitate someone."
> 
> Minako was crying. "It's not fair! This is a tragedy! If they're going to destroy the good name of Sailor V they could at least PAY ME ROYALTIES!!!"
> 
> Everyone fell over this time.
> 
> "I'm going to go play!!!" Usagi chimed, running into the store.
> 
> "OH NO! Don't you dare, Usagi!" Minako said as she followed Usagi in.
> 
> "I want to be player two!" Makoto said as she followed them in.
> 
> Rei and Ami both sighed as they walked in after them. Usagi and Makoto were both playing the display game as Minako watched Usagi fail to block Makoto's attack. She looked on in horror as her likeness was disemboweled, decapitated, chopped into pieces, and then burned into charcoal by Makoto's character.
> 
> "FLAWLESS VICTORY... **_FATALITY!_**" The game's evil-sounding voice declared.
> 
> "I can't stand it." Minako cried, turning pale. "You could at least try to win, Usagi!"
> 
> "Don't blame me." Usagi whined. "Mako-chan has more practice at these kinds of games."
> 
> Minako looked to Makoto, who was smiling and giving the V sign. "That's it, out of the way! Okay Mako-chan, PREPARE TO DIE!!!" She said.
> 
> As the deathmatch continued in the background, Ami sighed and looked for some language software while Rei found herself lost in her own thoughts. Maybe it was just a dream, she thought to herself. The world she had seen was impossible, wasn't it? She wondered if the images were merely subjective, and represented something else. Haruka had told her that she and Michiru would keep their eyes open, and be there to help if anything happened that the other senshi, alone, couldn't handle. It was at least somewhat comforting, but she still worried.
> 
> "Rei-chan?!"
> 
> "W... what?" Rei was suddenly startled back into reality by Usagi's voice.
> 
> "You looked like you were staring off into space." Usagi said. "Thinking about Yuuichirou again?"
> 
> Uh oh, the other senshi collectively thought.
> 
> "I WAS NOT..." Rei paused. "No, I wasn't." Her tone having softened.
> 
> "Whew!" The other girls sighed in relief.
> 
> "I was thinking of Mamoru." Rei said, with a sly grin.
> 
> Uh oh, the others once again thought. Now it was going to get ugly.
> 
> "WAAAAH! Stop thinking of my Mamo-chan!" Usagi wailed chasing Rei through the mall.
> 
> "Oh no, we're going to get thrown out if they keep this up." Ami sighed.
> 
> *******
> 
> "I can't understand it." The owner said to his friend. "I thought for sure in this location I'd get more business."
> 
> "Might have something to do with how you spelled "chicken" on the sign."
> 
> "Huh? You think that's it?"
> 
> He didn't bother mentioning to his friend that the way he had misspelled chicken in "romanji" was actually pronounced the same as the the japanese word for a man who molests girls on a train. He had had more than his fair share of mangled "engrish", as some Americans liked to put it, in the store where he worked. He quietly shook his head at the memory of the "come in and sheet yourself" bedspread sale they had had last week.
> 
> While both men were turned away, the hole that had been steadily widening finally opened to the point where it would allow passage by the item sent through. A small, egg-like, object fell from mid-air and disappeared into a small oven and into the roasting chicken inside it.
> 
> The two men looked up to see two girls running by, one chasing the other. The girl in the lead stuck her tongue out and razzed the one pursuing her.
> 
> "Man, what is this country coming to?" He asked. "Every day I see kids losing more and more manners and respect."
> 
> "I blame it on a combination of American television and sugar." the second man said.
> 
> Within moments, the oven began to shake uncontrollably, attracting both mens' attention.
> 
> "What the Hell?" The owner said. "No, c'mon baby, don't break down on me now!"
> 
> "I told you you'd regret it if you bought that piece of junk!"
> 
> "Don't listen to him, sweety! I know you're a good oven! Stay good! Please?!?!"
> 
> The oven started to shake even more violently.
> 
> "I think we better move away."
> 
> "What?" The owner asked. "It's an electric oven, not gas. It's not like it's going to..."
> 
> Rei, Usagi, and everyone else in the vicinity turned to the sound of the explosion. Standing in the middle of what was once The Spicy Chikan, now stood a monster of indescribable... strangeness.
> 
> "W... what the hell is that?!?!" The owner, his face scuffed, but undamaged, said.
> 
> "Where did you buy that oven? Chernobyl?" The friend asked, helping his friend to get away.
> 
> Malech suddenly appeared. "Oh good, it finally awakened." He looked at the result of the experiment. It wasn't what he had expected. "What the...?"
> 
> Standing in the pile of debris, the creature bore an unmistakable resemblance to a roast chicken. It's legs were vaguely human in shape, but it's skin was a golden brown and covered in greasy sauce. Instead of arms, it had a pair of useless, featherless, wings that twitched. All that in itself wouldn't have surprised Malech had the creature not been missing one important feature. It's head. Where its neck should have began, there was only a cavity filled with stuffing. It started to turn back and forth, as if looking for something.
> 
> The creature raised to its full height, and with a puny wing raised in the air, cried out...
> 
> "All of you fear me... for I... AM... CHIKAAAAAAAAAAAAN!!!"
> 
> All the girls in the mall that were watching sweatdropped.
> 
> "Disgusting !"
> 
> "Ewww!"
> 
> "Probably some stupid adult video promotion."
> 
> "Somebody call mall security."
> 
> The monster sweatdropped. It had expected to hear more running and screaming.
> 
> Malech quietly wondered what he had done to deserve this. "You there, we have work to do!" he commanded. What the hell are you doing?"
> 
> The golden-browned Frankenstein turned toward the sound of its master's voice, but kept turning as if it couldn't find him.
> 
> "What the _HELL_ is wrong with you?" He was now almost shouting. "Are you blind or something?"
> 
> The creature raised its greasy chicken wings to where its head should have been, but felt nothing but empty space. "_AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!_ What happened to my head?!?!" It screamed, though, without a mouth, it was anyone's guess how.
> 
> Malech fell over. He sat up and started rubbing the bridge of his nose, trying to ease the terrible migraine that was slowly developing. The creature, in a literal blind panic, started running around the mall like the figurative chicken with its head cut off and screaming. It ran into walls, displays, and customers alike. Malech, meanwhile, continued to rub his temples. "So much for a successful experiment."
> 
> After a moment, the chicken returned with the head of a manikin sticking out of its neck cavity. "Eh, boss. You think this brings out my color?" It asked.
> 
> "I think that's more than enough for today." Malech said, as he worked to open the doorway home. He'd let the sages examine the results for themselves and find out what went wrong.
> 
> "Hold it right there!!!"
> 
> Malech and the marinated monster both turned to the voice's origin. Before them stood Sailor Moon and the other four senshi.
> 
> "You who interrupt happiness and peoples' shopping on weekends, in the name of..."
> 
> "MARS... FLAME... SNIPER!!!"
> 
> Malech leaped out of the way with only the smallest fraction of a second to spare as the flamimg arrow struck Chikan square in the chest. The creature exploded in a ball of fire and a hail of burnt chicken bits... and one mannequin head. "Lovely." Malech groaned. "I should have known this would happen." Not willing to stay around and fight, he raised his hand and disappeared.
> 
> "Mars!!!" Usagi said in a somewhat whiny tone. "What was the idea of stepping on my line like that?"
> 
> "I... I'm sorry." Mars said, looking over the destruction. "I guess I panicked and jumped the gun a bit. I didn't expect the monster to be so... well... weak."
> 
> "Yeah... no kidding." Jupiter said. "That was almost **_too_** easy!"
> 
> "Don't jinx it, Jupiter." Venus admonished. "Best not to count our blessings before they're hatched."
> 
> Jupiter sweatdropped. "Err... you mean chickens."
> 
> "What?!?!" Venus started looking in different directions. "There's more of them?"
> 
> The others fell over.
> 
> "Everybody, I think we'd better get out of here." Mercury said. With that, the senshi left.
> 
> The stand owner, who had been watching the whole thing, turned to his friend, plucking a piece of the monster chicken out of his hair. "And I only had sixteen more payments to make on that oven." He looked at the piece for a moment and proceeded to eat it.
> 
> "Eeeeegh... that's disgusting!" The friend said, making a face. "And it's probably radioactive, too."
> 
> He spit the piece out and wiped his mouth. "Hmm... kinda tastes like...."
> 
> "**_Don't_** say it."
> 
> Off on the other side of the mall, where a crowd of bystanders had gathered to watch the short battle, Haruka and Michiru were both standing.
> 
> "This couldn't have been what Rei-chan predicted, could it?" Michiru asked.
> 
> "No." Haruka replied. "Either this was only the tip of a _very_ big iceberg, or something completely different has just popped up. In any case, it's over for now." With that, both girls quietly left.
> 
> *******
> 
> Later that night found the "inner" senshi, including Chibi-Usa, and the cats gathered in the den of Rei's house. Rei had told everyone about the dream she had had, minus some of the most graphic details. Usagi had received the information about as well as could be expected.
> 
> "Are you sure you weren't just watching too much late-night TV, Rei-chan?"
> 
> For Usagi, that is.
> 
> "That's you, Bakka-Usagi, not Rei-chan." Chibi-Usa pointed out... "OW!" ... right before being pinched by Usagi. Soon, a pinching war was on between the two.
> 
> "Rei-chan," Minako began. "why did you go to Haruka and Michiru's before coming to us?"
> 
> "I... before The Silence was upon us, I was having dreams about the end of the world. I kept them to myself hoping I could figure out what they meant, but we were attacked by the first Daimon almost that day." Rei paused. "I didn't want to take a chance, so before I came to meet with everyone I went to Haruka and Michiru to ask them if they had felt anything. They knew about the approaching Silence long before I did, so I thought that they might know something."
> 
> "Did they?" Ami asked.
> 
> "No." Rei said, somewhat downcast in her expression. "Haruka said that they hadn't noticed or felt anything out of the ordinary."
> 
> "That doesn't entirely surprise me." Luna stated. "The Outer Senshi were specifically empowered to guard against threats from outside the solar system, such as the Deathbusters."
> 
> "So if there's a threat now," Artemis began. "It's from our own back yard."
> 
> Luna turned back to Rei. "At least now I know why you sounded so worried last night."
> 
> "It doesn't make any sense, though." Makoto said. "Rei said she had seen an entire city, maybe the entire world dead. Could it really be cause by the ones who sent _that_ thing earlier?"
> 
> "It can't be coincidence, can it?" Ami asked.
> 
> "Ami-chan is right." Luna stated. "Better to overestimate our enemies than underestimate them."
> 
> "Usagi..." Minako began. "... what do you think?"
> 
> "Yes you do!" Chibi-Usa yelled. " I saw you with your face glued to the TV during that scene with the cup in Evangelion!"
> 
> Rei fell over. It was going to be a long night.
> 
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> 
> Next chapter...
> 
> More light is shed on the mysterious enemies as two massive armies clash in a battle for supremacy in a dying, forgotten world. Meanwhile, the senshi prepare Usagi, and themselves, for final exams, but the enemy has plans of their own.
> 
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> 
> Author's notes:
> 
> The first chapter is now done, and I can honestly say, this is the first time I've ever seen a spellcheck program raise a white flag on me. If you have taken the time to read this far, I ask that you send feedback on what you may have liked or disliked about it. Feedback, good or bad, is the lifeblood by which a writer or artist lives (at least when he's not getting paid, that is).
> 
> All comments may be sent to...
> 
> zefmann9901@aol.com
> 
> My website, containing other examples of my work, may be found at...
> 
> http://www.geocities.com/captainzman/sailormoon
> 
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> 
> Translation Notes:
> 
> Senshi basically means soldier or warrior. It does not have a plural form, so when reffering to all the senshi it remains unchanged. Same with youma. Because most of the enemies are not native japanese, they will commonly refer to the senshi as "Sailor Soldier" when talking amongst themselves.
> 
> A "chikan" is a pervert who feels up girls on a train, usually because people are so tightly packed together, it's hard to know who's doing it, and the offender can disappear into the crowd.
> 
> "Engrish" is a less than flattering term sometimes used in the states to describe the more _unusual_ examples of Japanese using english roman type in various places (usually ads and billboards).
> 
> The "cup scene" in Eva is just something you'll have to see (and hear) for yourself, so don't ask.
> 
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> 
> Thanks go to...
> 
> Naoko Takeuchi, Toei Animation, Studio Chikashitsu, Mountain Dew, VKLL, Pioneer, Golden's Field Guid to Rocks and Minerals, and Macintosh Computers (think different).
> 
> Other thanks go to...
> 
> Jannelle Himenez, John Biles, and Jeff Hosmer, for writing what would be my very first exposures to fanfiction, and doing a good enough job to inspire me to take up writing. Dean Koontz for writing a novel that could scare the crap out of me. All the guys I "convinced" to help me proofread this story. The guys who made the "Deadlock" strategy game for an alien computer opponent that trash-talks me right before he razes my colony to the ground. The makers of "Master of Orion 2", for a strategy game that lets me live out all my megalomaniacal universe-destroying fantasies in a game, thus saving innocent alien armadas the possibility of me going out into space and doing it for real. The guy(s) that invented the internet, you rule.


	2. Hard Challenge

Sailor Moon: Beautiful Dreams

> The air was still. The land, a dark, eternal twilight. Some might think areas of The Dark Kingdom to be somewhat beautiful, in a gothic, monochrome way. On the crest of a hill, beneath a blood sky, stood the army of Vergana. Nearly five thousand youma. Wielding an assortment of weapons scavenged from Beryl's castle, they stand, eagerly awaiting the order to battle. Upon the other hill, roughly three hundred meters away, stands the army of Vandred. For nearly six months, both, Vergana and Vandred have climbed the ranks to become the two most dominant youma in the known world. Both now stand with their armies ready. Both leaders stand with their troops. Both know that if their warriors should fall, they will die as well. Neither would have it any other way.
> 
> Vergana makes an unsuccessful attempt to scratch an itch. It was nearly impossible with the dull, bronze armor she wore. As light and unobtrusive as it was, she still saw it as a hindrance. The youma had no metalworkers, or mining facilities of their own, but one of the more talented in her ranks, made her the armor from bronze shields, left over from when Beryl first attacked the Moon Kingdom. Vergana could only think how there were now a dozen of her ranks without shields to protect them. Her servant, however, convinced her that actually looking like a general would greatly improve the morale of the warriors. At first her servants wanted to polish the armor to a high gloss, but Vergana stopped them, reminding them if the armor was too eye-catching, it would make her more of a target in battle than protect her. Focusing her attention to events at hand, Vergana turned to see Valkrie approaching to her side. A powerfully built youma, she was the only one with whom Vergana placed her complete trust.
> 
> "The pikemen are ready." Valkrie stated. As an afterthought, she adjusted the metal tiara, more functional than decorative, to better keep her flowing white hair out of her face in combat.
> 
> "Good." The youma leader replies. "Are the fire-throwers ready as well?"
> 
> "They are getting into position now." Valkrie said. "Korin is having some trouble keeping the more aggressive ones in line."
> 
> "As long as they head in the right direction when it starts." Roughly nine tenths of the youma in the Dark Kingdom were what one might call... less than civilized. Some might say demonic and savage. As a front line attack wave, they were difficult to beat, though. A fact that Beryl, the former leader of this world, was not afraid to exploit. Many youma, however, are fairly intelligent, and can easily approach human standards. Vergana and the other ruling youma, were no exceptions.
> 
> "M'lady!" Valkrie called, drawing her sword. "It's... a human?!"
> 
> Vergana turned to the sight of a single, slender, young man, holding a long, intricately carved, double-edged pole-axe, approaching from the rear.. He black cape and dark hair began to blow in the wind, which was now picking up. The youma tensed as he approached. Their previous experience with humans was not a pleasant one under the command of Beryl's generals. Vergana raised and then slowly lowered her hand, as a signal for the youma to relax. "I called him here. This is the one whom we have been waiting for."
> 
> Valkrie lowered her spear, but only with reluctance.
> 
> As the man came upon group, Vergana spoke. "Hematite. I'm glad you could make it. I appreciate this favor from your group, I was not expecting you to aid us in an internal matter."
> 
> "We have a vested interest in seeing your side win today, so I was sent to aid you in claiming victory." His dark-gray uniform was immaculate. He looked more like a nobleman than a warrior.
> 
> "They sent only one?" Valkrie asked with a slight hint of surprise, and disdain. "What can a single... _human _do to aid us in a battle of this size?" She used the word "human" like an epithet.
> 
> "Valkrie!" Vergana said admonishingly.
> 
> "No, I can understand your subordinate's concern." Hematite stated with no hint of offense in his voice. "My guild could only send one through the dimensional fabric, so they have chasen to send me."
> 
> "I'm glad." Vergana said. "Take a position near the front line, where your talents can be of their greatest use, and good fortune to you, Hematite. Come back alive."
> 
> Hematite merely smiled, bowed, and moved off through the ranks to take his position.
> 
> "My apologies for my outburst, Lady Vergana, but can we really trust a human?" Valkrie asked.
> 
> "Even if we win this day, Valkrie, our race is still dying." Vergana said. "He and his guild may be the only thing that can save us."
> 
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> 
> **Sailor Moon: Beautiful Dreams - Chapter 2**
> 
> By Captain Zefram Man
> 
> Sailor moon, the Sailor Senshi, and all related characters are TM and copyright their respective owners, who aren't me. This story and all parts there of are mine alone are and protected by copyright law. This story may not be reposted without the express permission of the author (except for Mystery Science Theater purposes), namely me, so please ask first.
> 
> This fic is rated PG-13
> 
> _"Beauty is in the eye of the beholder." _- Unknown
> 
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> 
> Within the den of Rei's home at the Hikawa Shrine, the senshi were studying hard to prepare for their final exams. Most of all, they tried to prepare Usagi for hers.
> 
> "No Usagi... try again."
> 
> _Try_ being the operative word.
> 
> Luna continued. "How do you ask the salesperson, in english, that you want to try out the chair they're selling?"
> 
> "Uhhh... may... may I... p... please... uh... may I please sit in your stool sample?" Usagi replied with a smile.
> 
> Luna, Artemis, Minako, and Ami, being the ones who could best understand english, all fell over. Minako, in particular, tried to keep from laughing herself into a coma while Makoto and Rei just scratched their heads and stared. Still, it hadn't been as bad as when she was helping Mamoru with his laundry and tried to impress him by asking if she could "take a _sheet_ in his room". Everyone recovered their composure and Luna climbed back onto the table.
> 
> "Usagi, I didn't think it was possible, but you seem to be having even more trouble concentrating." She chastised. "You have finals coming up soon for all your classes. What will happen if you fail?"
> 
> "Our poor country is going to have a flunkout as its queen in the future." Rei said. She really didn't like being so harsh with Usagi, but the fact that Usagi needed it, and that Rei was so good at it, made it easier.
> 
> "You're heartless!" Usagi whined.
> 
> "And you're BRAINLESS!" Rei retorted.
> 
> A little _too_ easy at times. The rest of the study group cringed at the last remark.
> 
> "What will Mamoru say if you fail the exam?" Rei continued. "He'll never want to marry a failure like you and poor Chibi-Usa will never be born!"
> 
> *******
> 
> "AH-CHOO!!!"
> 
> "Are you all right Small Lady?" Diana, her tiny guardian kitten, asked.
> 
> "I don't know." Chibi-Usa answered, wiping her nose. "It feels like... someone just walked over my grave."
> 
> Insert ominous sound of thunder here.
> 
> Diana shuddered. "That's disturbing, Small Lady. Aren't you too young to think such morbid things?"
> 
> *******
> 
> "How could you possibly be so cruel, Rei?!?!" Usagi yelled.
> 
> "How can you possibly take your education so frivolously?" Rei responded.
> 
> In the meanwhile, Minako was reading a comic book, Ami was helping Makoto with a phrase, and Luna and Artemis were taking a nap. All knew that there was no point in coming between the two when they started.
> 
> "Rei has a point, Usagi-chan." Ami finally said. "You don't try hard enough."
> 
> "But... but I do try!" Usagi sniffled. "It's just that all those numbers, letters, phrases, historical facts, they all get jumbled together and I get confused!"
> 
> "I have something that may help!" Minako chimed.
> 
> "A magic spell to make Usagi pay attention?" Rei asked.
> 
> "REI!" Usagi yelled.
> 
> "Better than that!" Minako replied, pulling out a cassette player and some tapes. "These are learning tapes that Usagi can listen to when she's asleep."
> 
> "Ack!" Usagi gagged. " My time asleep is for me and Mamo-chan in my dreams! I can't have this coming between me that!"
> 
> Everyone fell over.
> 
> "Hold on." Rei said as she got up. "I'll be right back."
> 
> Everyone sweatdropped.
> 
> "Really, Usagi." Minako started. "This will help you learn better."
> 
> "It's not fair!" Usagi continued to whine. "A girl is only young for so little time, her beautiful and romantic dreams should be treasured and cherished while she still has them."
> 
> "Usagi-chan, if you were that creative with your assignments, you would be on the honor roll by now." Luna deadpanly stated.
> 
> At that moment, Rei came back in. "All right, everything's taken care of, and "Plan B" is now in effect."
> 
> The girls sweatdropped. "Plan B?" Makoto asked.
> 
> "Yep." Rei continued. "I called Mamoru-san at work and told him we had an emergency with Usagi."
> 
> "You talked to Mamo-chan about this???" Usagi bigsweated.
> 
> "What did he say?" Minako asked.
> 
> "I made a suggestion on what to do about helping Usagi focus more, and he agreed that it was the only way." Rei said with a dire seriousness. "From now, until she passes her high school exams, Usagi can no longer see, talk to, or come near Mamoru-san!"
> 
> *******
> 
> For every direction within a half-kilometer of the Hikawa Shrine, people turned to the sound of a horrifying scream that many would describe as beyond any human reckoning.
> 
> "AHH!!! What the heck was that?!?!" Yuuichirou asked, nearly dropping the knife he was cutting vegetables with on his foot.
> 
> "Plan B." Grandfather Hino plainly stated. "Poor Usagi-chan, she seems to be taking it better than Rei-chan first thought, though." He said with a smile.
> 
> *******
> 
> A universe away, a cry of a different kind was sounded.
> 
> **_"ATTAAAAAAAAAAAACK!!!"_**
> 
> With Vergana's battle cry, the five thousand warriors stampeded forth roaring their battle rage in a single, terrifying voice. Vandred's army on the other side of the valley responded in kind, and both hoards ran toward each other with blood lust in their eyes. Some of the more ferocious youma ran on all fours, fangs bared, and completely without fear or hesitation. Both armies ran and the sound became as onto a storm. As both sides neared each other, Vergana's fire-throwers launched the pots of lit oil at the enemy. The flaming projectiles exploded in a fiery blaze, breaking the momentum of the onrushing horde. Some youma, so savage, plowed straight through the blazing wall of fire, while most paused, only to be trampled by those behind them. Vergana's army continued the charge and slammed into Vandred's larger, but unprepared forces in a terrifying clash of destruction. Youma teared and stabbed and chopped and flailed at each other and bodies fell dead by the hundreds every minute. Vergana's use of strategy and stone aged technology evened the odds against Vandred's superior numbers. Almost unseen amidst the chaos, Hematite carved a swath of death through the opposing army like a reaper sowing wheat. With every swing of his pole-axe, another youma, sometimes two, fell before him. Vergana herself was behind him with Valkrie at her side defending her. Valkrie saw in Hematite's eyes something that frightened even her. Amidst all the death and carnage and chaos everywhere, he seemed to be enjoying himself. It had taken nearly five minutes, but Hematite had cleaved a path with both axe and magic through the entire army, where Vandread himself stood ready at its rear with his four strongest warriors.
> 
> "So this is how it shall be, Vergana." The male youma, a rare sight in the Dark Kingdom, said. "Just you and me, as it should be." He was a powerfully built specimen. Even more rare since males were generally more slight of build than the females.
> 
> "As always, you talk too much, old man." Vergana said as she raised her sword and charged.
> 
> The four guardian youma took defensive stances, ready to defend their master to the death. It was a short battle, as Valkrie cut one down, she looked to see that Hematite had already done away with the other three. _Damn_, she thought. _I can't believe it, he's as powerful as Kunzite! Maybe even more so_. She turned to see the battle, the _war_, was over. Vergana stood atop the hill and lifted the head of her former enemy. All the youma, as if having sensed what had happened, turned and looked at the site. All of them fell silent. In a single moment, the entire battle came to an end. One voice among the horde then broke the silence.
> 
> "King Vandread is dead! _LONG LIVE QUEEN VERGANA!!!_"
> 
> With that, all the youma raised their weapons to the sky and cheered, now unified under a single name. One would hardly know that two thirds of their number were lying dead at their feat, turning to dust and being forgotten even as their comrades roared in celebration.
> 
> *******
> 
> "Oh my God!" Makoto cried.
> 
> "Usagi-chan, Usagi-chan!!!" Ami cried as she tried to revive Usagi, who had passed out after hearing of Rei's actions.
> 
> "I think you might have killed her, Rei!" Minako exclaimed.
> 
> "Wait till she finds out that her mom is clearing away all the manga and video games from her room as we speak." Rei replied.
> 
> "_WHAAAAT?!?!_" Usagi cried, almost knocking Ami over the table as she bolted upright.
> 
> "This is the only way, Usagi-chan." Rei calmly stated.
> 
> "But... but..." Usagi whimpered, almost teary eyed.
> 
> "I'm afraid she's right, Usagi-chan." Makoto said. "Now, you'll have nothing to do _but_ study."
> 
> Usagi's face turned blue with Makoto's last comment.
> 
> "Don't feel so bad, Usagi-chan." Minako said. "We'll study with you and prepare ourselves as well."
> 
> "Yeah." Rei said. "You're not in this alone."
> 
> "We'll help you any way we can, Usagi-chan." Ami said reassuringly.
> 
> "You... you really mean it?" Usagi sniffled.
> 
> "Of course, and if you still fail after that, we'll all wear "masks of shame" over our heads along with your family."
> 
> Usagi fell over and the others shot Rei menacing looks.
> 
> *******
> 
> "Have all the names been counted?" Vergana asked.
> 
> "Yes, Queen Vergana." Her aid said, bowing her head.
> 
> "Giva, make a note of something for me, will you?"
> 
> "Of course, my Queen, anything you ask!" The aid replied.
> 
> "My first order as ruler of this land is that the title of "queen" shall be forever banned." Vergana said, her voice ringing with a touch of anger. "I will have no reminders, not even the title, of Queen Beryl's rule. If you wish to agknowledge my authority, think of another way."
> 
> "Y... yes Que... err... I mean, Lady Vergana." Giva replied.
> 
> "Better."
> 
> "What is it, exactly, that they are doing, Your Majesty?" Hematite asked.
> 
> "My second act as ruler will be to erect a monument to those that died this day. Before the battle, all those that had names registered them with our scribe, Giva, to be recorded. We cross off the ones still alive, and the names of the dead shall be etched into the monument. Those without names will be remembered as "those never forgotten"". Vergana said.
> 
> "Poetic." Hematite plainly stated, not showing, save the damage to his uniform, the slightest hint of wear or fatigue from the battle.
> 
> "How goes your guild's experiments?" Vergana asked. "As you can see, now more than ever we need reinforcements to our numbers."
> 
> "Malech reported... _mixed_ results regarding the initial try." Hematite stated with a look of slight discomfort. The sight of his comrade covered in sauce and burned chicken bits came to mind.
> 
> "Is it true the Sailor Senshi destroyed the creature?"
> 
> _How the hell did she know that?_ Hematite wondered. "Regetably, yes." He said, making no attempt at an excuse.
> 
> "You and your guild have nothing to apologize for, Hematite." Vergana said, rising to her full height, which nearly equaled that of the tall mage. "Your aid today gave us victory with far fewer losses than we expected."
> 
> "It was my pleasure, M'lady."
> 
> "There is some business for me to take care of now, but do come to my chambers later, and... you can fill me in on the rest of the details."
> 
> "M'lady, I would love to." Hematite said, with a slight bow and a smile.
> 
> Valkrie, who had been listening to the exchange while having her wounds treated, clenched her fist, crushing the stone armrest of her seat.
> 
> *******
> 
> "I still smell like chicken sauce." Malech complained. "Damned Sailor Soldier."
> 
> "Why are Hematite and that youma woman even bothering with these... what did they call them again?" Cryo, a human with shoulder length, blue hair, asked with a slight russian accent.
> 
> "Demon Seeds." Thorian, a massive, powerfully muscled human with a shock of spikey, pink hair on the top of his head, replied in a flat monotone.
> 
> "Oh yeah." Cryo murmured.
> 
> "Well, apparently the youma are a little shorthanded, and they need some disposable cannon fodder for something or another." Malech stated. "The same thing their former ruler used them for, ironically enough."
> 
> "Great." Cryo said. "But why bother sending them after the Sailor Soldiers when we could simply take care of them ourselves?"
> 
> "Hematite wants to test these creatures against the Sailor Soldiers in battle to gauge their effectiveness." Malech stated. "But we were supposed to _examine_ our first attempt before sending it into battle, the damn Sailors blew it to pieces before I could get it back."
> 
> "So what happens now?" Cryo asked.
> 
> "Hematite had an idea on how to make the dimensional insertion more accurate." Malech said. "We _should_ be able to control the results now."
> 
> "All that stuff the sages go into, it makes me sleepy." Cryo replied, laying back in his chair and yawning. "What do you think, Thorian?"
> 
> "Hmmmmm."
> 
> "That's what I like about you, big guy." Cryo said. "Your stupendous way with words."
> 
> "That's enough." Malech admonished. "We have to be at the site for the next try, so let's go."
> 
> "So what are they going to try to use as a guinea pig this time?"
> 
> "Fluffy."
> 
> "Ooooh boy. This ought to be good."
> 
> All three of the mages disappeared from the room in the Mages' Guild, and reappeared in a room in a comparatively large apartment in Japan, rented for just this experiment. All around, there were crystals, potions, and strange machines used for gauging energy and monitoring experiments. Malach strode to the center of the room, where a large circle with immensely concentrated runes were etched into the floor.
> 
> "Hmmmm... not bad." He said. "When old man Hector said he was going to let his students create the circle, I was worried. Looks like they did a good job, though." He walked over to a large glass tank with a several inch carpet of wood chips lining the bottom. Every few seconds, the chips would shift. Malech grabbed a pair of tongs and, lifting the cover, reached into the tank. Stabbing the tongs into the wood chips, he began to withdraw with what looked like a common house centipede... only twenty times it's normal size. The foot-long, venomous creature wriggled and writhed in the tongs, but Malech kept a secure hold and walked it over to the circle.
> 
> "Fluffy, eh?" Cryo said. "She's gotten bigger since I saw her last."
> 
> "The arch-mages' experiments in growth magic at work." Thorian replied in his usual monotone.
> 
> "Is _that_ what happened to you?" Cryo jokingly responded.
> 
> Thorian didn't flinch at Cryo's comment, and watched Malech secure Fluffy to the center of the circle.
> 
> "All right then, let's get started." Malech commanded.
> 
> All three mages gathered around the circle and began to recite the ancient chant. Not so much to breach the dimensional wall themselves, but to create a signal that would allow the mages on the other side to deliver the package with greater accuracy. As all three chanted, the runes of the circle began to glow with a blue light. The light continued to brighten and became almost blinding, until a column of energy erupted from the circle to the ceiling. From the top, a small, egg-shaped object, similar to the one that appeared at the mall, dropped forth and disappeared into the back of the centipede. With that, the energy dispersed, and all three mages relaxed their power.
> 
> "Well, what happens now?" Cryo asked.
> 
> Almost in response to Cryo's question, the centipede began to convulse and shake. Within seconds cracks formed in its skin that began to glow with a dark, red energy.
> 
> "That." Thoriun replied.
> 
> As if some magical critical-mass had been achieved, the creature exploded and all three mages were knocked back and the windows of the apartment blew out. Equipment was knocked over left and right.
> 
> "Dimensional explosion, should've known to prepare for that." Malech calmly said as he picked himself up.
> 
> All three looked at the center of the room as the smoke cleared. Malech alone smiled.
> 
> *******
> 
> Mamoru Chiba sat on the bench of the hotel with a academic text book in his hand and several more at his side. Usagi wasn't the only one studying hard. As much as he cared about Usagi, a part of him was glad that Rei had called with the idea she had. He needed time to cram for his collage entrance exam and this would give him some much needed study time. Once he was in college, he thought, it would be a different matter.
> 
> "Excuse me, do you know where the hotel pool is?" A slightly husky, female voice asked.
> 
> "Around the corner to your left." Mamoru pointed out, without looking up from his book.
> 
> "Thank you. Oh! By the way, you know a place where they sell Jello mix by the crate?"
> 
> Mamoru resisted the urge to look up from his book. "Uh... there's a supermarket about a block that way that might have some." He said, pointing again.
> 
> "Thank's again, oh, by the way, you're cute. Want to come to the pool with me?"
> 
> "No, thank you. Got to get back to work soon."
> 
> "Awwwww... too bad. Ja-ne!"
> 
> Mamoru waved goodbye, once again, without looking up from his book. Not that he wasn't curious, but he was determined to finish the chapter before his brake was over.
> 
> "Excuse me?" A deep, male voice inquired.
> 
> "Hmmmm?"
> 
> "Have you seen a woman walk by that bares an uncharacteristic resemblance to a giant centipede?"
> 
> This time, Mamoru _did_ look up from his book. "Whaaaaat?"
> 
> "She ran away, said something about making a giant human Jello cocktail." Malech stated, as plainly as if he were commenting on the weather.
> 
> Mamoru sweatdropped. "Uhhhh... you might want to try the supermarket down the block."
> 
> "Thank you, oh, and by the way..."
> 
> "Err... yes?"
> 
> "You wouldn't happen to know how to call the Sailor Soldiers, would you?"
> 
> "Uhhhh... no, they usually just show up." Mamoru hoped a half truth wouldn't sound as flimsy.
> 
> "No worries, then." Malech said with a smile. "I'll manage."
> 
> Mamoru watched the man leap off an fly away, then calmly got up to make a phone call.
> 
> Malech teleported from rooftop to rooftop. One would think that such a creature as the one they had just created wouldn't be difficult to spot, but Malech, on top of not being familiar with the territory, and the city's population, was proving to be a hindrance. "I wonder if I should ask for directions?" He asked himself.
> 
> *******
> 
> The manager of the Happy Sunrise supermarket looked with pride at the display. For six hours, he and his assistant had been working to create what would be known as the most extravagant cookware display in the entire district. The site of pots, pans, spatulas, and serving tongs, arranged in a way as to provide the greatest possible asthetic quality almost brought a tear to his eye. "Tell me, Tomono." He said, turning to his assistant. "What do you think."
> 
> "It... ah... it looks great boss!" He lied. _Damn, what an eyesore,_ he thought to himself.
> 
> "Nothing can go wrong this glorious day." The manager expressed.
> 
> "Give me all of your Jello, NOW!!!"
> 
> The manager and assistant both turned to see a woman, dressed in what they thought to be a strange costume, standing on a table and holding a stock boy up by his shirt. The woman proceeded to hurl the stock boy into the produce section and turned to the manager.
> 
> "Are you in charge here?"
> 
> "Who are you? Some kind of freak from a cosplay convention?" The manager asked defiantly.
> 
> The centipede woman stepped down and the manager took in the site. She was a good two meters tall. Her body was tan colored, and she appeared to have what looked like a gigantic centipede grafted to her back, with its head crowning her own and the tail dragging behind her. Hundreds of little legs twitched along the length of it.
> 
> "I am Fluffy! And you will give me all your Jello or die!" The monster said.
> 
> "Tomono."
> 
> "Yes sir?" The assistant replied.
> 
> "Get security, and tell them they may need rope and the extra heavy batons."
> 
> "Yes sir." The assistant said, and proceeded to go get help.
> 
> "Now for you!" The manager said.
> 
> The mandibles on Fluffy's forehead opened and from the "mouth" sprayed a green liquid that melted a hole in the cookware display.
> 
> "Jello... that would be in aisle six." The manager said, proceeding to run for his life.
> 
> "Thank you!" Fluffy yelled, with sincerity.
> 
> Malech and his companions appeared behind the monster as she went to do her shopping. "I told you I'd found her."
> 
> "She's creeeeeepy." Cryo observed.
> 
> "She's a regular beauty-queen compared to Chikan."
> 
> "I think she's pretty." Thoriun replied flatly. Malech and Cryo stared at him and he turned slightly red.
> 
> "Hold it right there!" A young girl's voice shouted.
> 
> "Here we go." Malech stated, rolling his eyes.
> 
> "You who interrupt shoppers everywhere, in the name of the Moon..." Sailor Moon proceeded to strike her usual pose. "I will punish you!"
> 
> "Three of them, this time." Makoto said, pointing at the battle-mages.
> 
> "And look at the **_size_** of _THAT_ one!" Minako said, looking at Thoriun.
> 
> "Cryo!" Malech yelled, pointing at the senshi.
> 
> Pulling his hands back to his side, Cryo focused his power to the point between his palms. "_Freeeeeeeeeeezing... BLAAAAAAST!!!!_" Cryo cried, as he unleashed a slow, but devastating wave of power.
> 
> "WATCH OUT!!!" Mars cried.
> 
> The senshi dived out of the way just as the blast struck the spot where they had been standing. And in the blink of an eye, a small mountain of ice had exploded from the spot, smashing everything around it .
> 
> "Alright, now both of you go." Malech stated. "We're here to see how Fluffy, does, not fight he Senshi ourselves."
> 
> "All right, be careful." Cryo said, as he and Thoriun disappeared.
> 
> Malech telaported to the aisle where Fluffy was raiding low-calorie desserts. "What the hell are you doing?"
> 
> "Shopping?" Fluffy innocently replied.
> 
> "You have a job to do."
> 
> "Do I have to?"
> 
> "YES!!!"
> 
> "All right... all right."
> 
> Meanwhile, the senshi had regrouped in one of the aisles and were discussing strategy.
> 
> "Damn, that was too close!" Jupiter exclaimed.
> 
> "Looks like the other three are gone, though." Venus said.
> 
> "No." Mercury replied, tapping at her computer and examining the readings on her visor. "One of them is still here, somewhere at the other end of the store."
> 
> "What about the monster?" Venus asked.
> 
> "It's closer... I estimate it's location to be..."
> 
> Before Mercury could finish, the entire aisle was shaken and the girls barraged by falling jars and cans. Before anyone knew what was happening, the entire wall of shelves came crashing down on top of them. When the wall came down, it hit the one in front of it, which sent that one falling as well, and before long, a full scale domino effect had been unleashed.
> 
> Sailormoon, having been able to dive for cover, turned to the devastation. "What happened?" She saw her friends all pinned underneath the metal shelves, now an effective cage.
> 
> "We... we're alive." Mars said wearily.
> 
> "Sailormoon! We're pinned underneath this thing!" Mercury cried. "We can't move."
> 
> "Ow..." Was all Venus could manage.
> 
> "Everyone, hang on, I'll have you out of there in a second!" Sailormoon cried.
> 
> "Sailormoon, watch out." Jupiter cried. "The monster might still be... OWWWW!!!" Jupiter cried out, as she suddenly felt weight of the aisle on her body dramatically increase.
> 
> Sailormoon looked up at the creature, now standing on the aisle pinning her friends.
> 
> "Sailormoon," The creature began. "Hand over your wand and surrender or I'll show your friends my little drooling problem." With that, Fluffy spat a stream of venom at a spot mere inches away from Jupiter's face. Jupiter watched in horror as the substance burned through the floor.
> 
> "No! Please! Don't hurt them!" Sailormoon cried.
> 
> From the top of an aisle at the other end of the store, Malech watched intently. _Damn, this is going a little TOO well_, he thought. _Fluffy was supposed to test her strength against the Sailors by fighting them, but the way this is going, she'll beat them without even throwing a single punch!_
> 
> "Sailormoon! Don't do it!" Mars cried.
> 
> "Shut up!" Fluffy yelled, letting a few drops of venom spill dangerously close to the girl's face. "Decide now, Sailormoon, or my venom will kill them very slowly and painfully."
> 
> Sailormoon's mind raced, but she saw no way around what she had to do. She reached behind her and puller her wand out. "Don't hurt them, I give up."
> 
> "NO!" Mars cried.
> 
> Fluffy smiled in relief as much as triumph. "Excelle... OW!!!" Her hand reached up to her face, where a stinging pain lanced through her chitinous skin. Looking down, she saw what it was that had struck her. "A rose?" Sailormoon, Fluffy, and Malech all looked to see Tuxedo Kamen and Chibi-Moon to the side.
> 
> "Cooking good food is an art, and the ingredients the paint to create masterpieces. I will not allow you to disturb the meals of this city."
> 
> "Ow... you tell 'em, Mamoru." Jupiter whispered underneath the debris.
> 
> "Tuxedo Kamen-sama!!!" Sailormoon cried.
> 
> With lightning speed, Tuxedo Kamen braced the end of his cane, the other end extending with blinding speed straight toward Fluffy's midsection. It was, however, interrupted. Malech appeared in the path of the extending cane, catching it with the palm of his hand and halting it's progress with seemingly no more than the strength in his arm.
> 
> "Tuxedo Mask... I was expecting you and the little one to appear, sooner or later." Malech said in perfect Japanese.
> 
> "Who are you?" Tuxedo Kamen demanded, letting his cane retract to its original size. "And why are you attacking this store?"
> 
> "My full name is Malachite, but you may call me Malech for short." The mage replied with a slight bow. "And as to the reason for my being here, you may ask all the questions you wish to in Hell." With that, Malech drew a single-edged broad-sword from seemingly nowhere behind him.
> 
> While Tuxedo Kamen and Malech dueled, Fluffy turned back to Sailormoon. "All right, so now what's it going to... huh?" She looked past the two men and saw the store window explode inward as a golden ball of light blasted through everything in its path.
> 
> Malech and Tuxedo Kamen only barely managed to dodge the energy projectile as it sped by to explode with a devastating blast several meters in front of the Fluffy, who cried out as it was showered by broken glass and spilled condiments.
> 
> "Ack!" Mars cried, as she and the other senshi were covered in a grotesque combination of mayonnaise, soy sauce, ketchup, relish, and glass from broken jars. "What's happening up there?!"
> 
> "It... sounds like the cavelry's here." Venus said.
> 
> Losing its balance, Fluffy fell backward and tumbled off the aisle that had been pinning the rest of the senshi. It stood back up to see what looked like a smaller, pinker, version of Sailormoon. "Who the heck are..."
> 
> "PINK... SUGAR... HEART... ATTACK!!!"
> 
> A stream of little pink hearts shot from Chibi-Moon's wand and struck Fluffy in the face.
> 
> "OWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOW!!!" The centipede woman cried out, as much in annoyance as pain.
> 
> "HAHA!!! I've been practicing!" Chibi-Moon cheered.
> 
> "You little... I'm going to eat you on a stick and..."
> 
> "DEEP... SUBMERGE!!!"
> 
> Fluffy had no time to react as Neptune's attack struck it with full, devastating force. The creature had been brought down to one knee, severely weakened, but still alive.
> 
> "Sailormoon! Destroy it now!" Uranus cried.
> 
> "Heh... This one is definitely an improvement over the other one." Neptune said to her partner, as they stepped through the window to join the battle first hand.
> 
> "Either that, or _somebody's_ out of practice." Uranus said with a playful smile.
> 
> "Oh _really?!_"
> 
> While her opponent was weakened, Sailor Moon raised the Spiral Heart Moon Rod and let the power flow from her and into it.
> 
> "SPIRAL... MOON... HEART... ATTACK!!!"
> 
> Fluffy looked up and saw her impending destruction. "I never even got to try the lime flavor." She whimpered.
> 
> The explosion from Fluffy's obliteration rocked the store as Tuxedo Kamen leapt high into the air extending his cane straight at Malech's head.
> 
> "Hmph... one trick pony are we?" Malech said, casually tilting his head to dodge. He raised his arm and blasted his opponent out of the air and straight into a display. "Now... to finish you."
> 
> "WORLD... SHAKING!!!"
> 
> Malech leapt high in the air and easily dodged the deadly yellow sphere. He landed just as the explosion detonated behind him, sending a hail of gummy worms onto him.
> 
> "Care to try that with me?" Uranus said with defiance.
> 
> "Another time, perhaps." Malech replied, picking a candy worm off his uniform. With that, he bowed and disappeared.
> 
> The threat of the monster now gone, Sailormoon ran to Tuxedo Kamen's side. "Tuxedo Kamen-sama! Are you all right?"
> 
> "Ow..." Was all he managed.
> 
> As Sailormoon helped him up, she turned to where Uranus and Neptune had been to thank them, but the two were gone.
> 
> "Hey!" Jupiter cried from underneath the aisle racks she and the other senshi were pinned under. "What's happening out there? Can someone give us a hand?"
> 
> *******
> 
> There was no real sense of day or night in the Dark Kingdom, as there was no sun. The sky remained an eternal violet twilight. As such, youma did not keep a strict day/night schedule. However, after having expended a great deal of energy, a youma can sometimes sleep for days, or even weeks at a time. Vergana had expended a great deal of energy this day, but still got little sleep. Even though there was no love in the Dark Kingdom, there was still desire and fulfillment. When Vergana first saw Hematite, she felt one, and later the other. Men were a rare commodity in the desolate land, and handsome ones even more so.
> 
> "Mmmmm..." Vergana purred, rolling over and resting hear head on Hematite's shoulder.
> 
> Hematite gently put his hand on her shoulder, pulling her body closer to his own, letting her warmth mix with his.
> 
> "Tell me, Hematite." She said sleepily, not opening her eyes. "What was that thing you did earlier?"
> 
> "You mean when I teleported outside of my clothing?"
> 
> "No, silly." She said with a slight laugh, another new experience to her. "Before and after that, when you pressed your lips against mine."
> 
> "A kiss?" He said, raising an eyebrow.
> 
> "Is that what it's called?" She said. "It felt so... intimate. Like for a moment, our essence were joined as one."
> 
> "You've never kissed anyone before?"
> 
> "No, such intimacy is unheard of in this world. It has been since before I became aware."
> 
> Hematite pulled her closer to him and kissed her on the forehead. She responded by snuggling into his embrace. Hematite was interrupted as Malech's image appeared in front of the bed.
> 
> "Malech, you assassin of romance! What the hell do you want?!?!" Hematite yelled at the apparition.
> 
> Malech sweatdropped. "Err... I just wanted to inform you that we had our expected run-in with the Sailor Soldiers and... Fluffy's been toasted."
> 
> "For your sake, Malech, I sincerely hope that that is _not_ the only reason you're here."
> 
> "It seems that two of the _other_ Sailors are back in town now." Malech replied.
> 
> Hematite slowly sat up. "Now, that _is_ interesting." He mused. "Tell everyone to expect me back... err.." He looked for a moment at Vergana, who sat up beside him, making no attempt whatsoever to cover herself in front of Malech. "Another few hours, I believe." He finally said.
> 
> Malech cocked an eyebrow, then smiled understandingly. "Of course." His image vanished.
> 
> "Two more Sailor Senshi?" Vergana asked.
> 
> "Don't worry, my dear." Hematite said reassuringly. "We prepared for this eventuality." He laid a hand on her shoulder and pulled her toward himself. "In fact, we were counting on it." He pulled the covers over themselves and the two proceeded to enjoy their remaining time together.
> 
> *******
> 
> "_Bleagh!_ I still smell like pickles!" Makoto complained as Chibi-Usa bandaged her head.
> 
> "What do you think was in the jar that broke on your head?" Minako replied. "Chibi-Usa, are you sure you don't need me to help you with the first aid?"
> 
> "NO!" Everyone replied at once.
> 
> Off in the corner, Usagi, Mamoru, Rei, and Ami were talking with Haruka and Michiru.
> 
> "Why did you two disappear at the store and then wait for us here?" Mamoru asked evenly.
> 
> Haruka's gaze went past that of Mamoru's and met Rei's. "Your performance in combat today was atrocious." She said, flatly.
> 
> "Wh... what?" Mars responded.
> 
> "The enemy was much stronger today, but you still had them outnumbered. You should have been able to easily beat them on your own." Michiru said.
> 
> Haruka looked at Ami and Rei." If you and the others are truly the guardians of the princess, then you had best start taking your parts seriously, we helped you today, but don't count on us to do that every time."
> 
> "Is that how it's going to be then?" Mamoru asked, his voice remaining even.
> 
> "It has to be." Uranus nodded.
> 
> With that, the Outer Senshi left.
> 
> Ami turned to the other senshi, sighed, and stated a terrifying truth. "It looks like we're on our own."
> 
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> 
> Next chapter...
> 
> The time has come for Usagi and the others to take their final exams, but will the Dark Kingdom and their mysterious new allies wait till they're finished to launch another attack? Yeah, right. Also, have Haruka and Michiru really abandoned the Sailor Senshi?
> 
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> 
> Author's notes:
> 
> I should have mentioned this at the head of the first chapter, but that's what I get for posting something when I have a fever. This story basically picks off after SuperS and goes its own way in terms of continuity.
> 
> All comments may be sent to...
> 
> zefmann9901@aol.com
> 
> My website, containing other examples of my work, may be found at...
> 
> http://www.geocities.com/captainzman/sailormoon
> 
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> 
> Translation Notes:
> 
> It is a common belief in Japan that when a person sneezes, it's thought that that means somebody is talking about them. The same as in the US when a person's ears are ringing.
> 
> "Sama" is an honorific like "san", "chan", or "kun". It is used to show great respect or admiration of a person. Usually used when mentioning someone in a very high position or that you personally admire. When one of Beryl's generals address her in the original series, they call her "Queen Beryl-sama".
> 
> Kamen is the japanese word for mask. I use Tuxedo Mask's original name instead of the translation because of some minor intonations that don't sound right when reffering to him by the translated name. As with "senshi", Malech and his group usually refer to him as Tuxedo Mask when amongst themselves.
> 
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> 
> Thanks go to...
> 
> Naoko Takeuchi, Toei Animation, Studio Chikashitsu, Mountain Dew, VKLL, Pioneer, Golden's Field Guid to Rocks and Minerals, and Macintosh Computers (think different).
> 
> Other thanks go to...
> 
> Jannelle Himenez, John Biles, and Jeff Hosmer, for writing what would be my very first exposures to fanfiction, and doing a good enough job to inspire me to take up writing. Dean Koontz for writing a novel that could scare the crap out of me. All the guys I "convinced" to help me proofread this story. The guys who made the "Deadlock" strategy game for an alien computer opponent that trash-talks me right before he razes my colony to the ground. The makers of "Master of Orion 2", for a strategy game that lets me live out all my megalomaniacal universe-destroying fantasies in a game, thus saving innocent alien armadas the possibility of me going out into space and doing it for real. The guy(s) that invented the internet, you rule.


	3. Drum Beating

Malech, Cryo, and Thoriun, all stood patiently before the two rune-covered, obsidian pillars. The relatively small room, carved of living stone, was filled with the sound of shadow mages chanting. Within moments, the space between the two pillars at the far end of the room began to ripple, like water suddenly disturbed by vibrations. The chanting of the cloaked figured lining the sides of the room began to increase in volume and the disturbance grew in size accordingly. Within moments, the portal had reached its full size, and the traveler came through landing on his feet before the three mages that stood before it. The dark figure rose to his full height and eyed the three, stepping forward with pole-axe raised. Malech stepped forward to greet him.

"Hematite!" Malech cried with a smile, reaching out and shaking his friend's hand. "Some of the students in Van's class were betting whether or not you'd make it back in one piece."

"It's not like we haven't opened portals to other dimensions before." The dark haired mage said. "That's why we have this thing." He said, pointing to the dark, rune covered pillars.

"We've never opened one up to the Dark Kingdom before, though." Cryo interjected. "It's a lot harder to breach the wall of that dimension for some reason."

"That makes sense." Hematite responded. "Come, I'll tell you all about my trip later. First, I want to see everything on your past two encounters with the Sailor Soldier, and later I need to speak with the elders about something."

"Always thinking of work, eh?" Malech said with a grin. "You're determined to make the rest of us look bad."

Cryo turned back to the gate. "Hey, why is the portal still open?"

"Because my traveling companion has not yet arrived." Hematite said, walking to the entrance of the gate.

The other three looked at him and with that, another figure sprang forth from the mouth of the gate and into Hematite's arms.

"Th... that... was new." The blue-skinned, silver-haired girl said, still somewhat shaken by her experience.

"Everyone, I'd like you all to meet Giva." Hematite said, setting the girl on her feet. "Our new ambassador from the Dark Kingdom."

Malech, Cryo, and Thoriun merely stared.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

**Sailor Moon: Beautiful Dreams - Chapter 3**

By Captain Zefram Man

Sailormoon, the Sailor Senshi, and all related characters are TM and copyright their respective owners, who aren't me. This story and all parts there of are mine alone and are protected by copyright law. This story may not be reposted without the express permission of the author (except for Mystery Science Theater purposes), namely me, so please ask first.

This fic is rated PG-13

_"Beauty is in the eye of the beholder." _- Unknown

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"So that's it?" Rei said indignantly. "They just up and leave like that?"

"It seems that way." Ami replied.

What was to be a typical study session in the den of Rei's home had quickly turned into a senshi meeting, as many had a habit of doing. It was somewhat difficult, understandably so of course, for the girls to keep their minds intently focused on their studies when they could be called into battle at any given moment and end up fighting for their lives. The bizarre and seemingly random attacks of their new enemies, and now the apparent desertion of the Outer Senshi, Haruka and Michiru, had put far more on the young girls' minds than the common distractions facing the more average school girls.

"But... they're Sailor Senshi too!" Makoto responded. "Why would they just up and refuse to help us?"

"They're treating us like we're... children or something!" Rei continued.

"Maybe we are." Ami said glumly.

Rei turned to Ami. "What do you mean by that?"

"Well, maybe we've been getting too complacent lately." Ami continued. "When Helios brought us to our super levels, and then when we learned our newest attacks, maybe we started getting complacent in our abilities."

"Ami-chan is right, Rei." Minako added. "When was the last time we tried to use strategy or teamwork in a battle?"

Rei's eyes drifted to the floor.

"In our super forms, we're much stronger, maybe even stronger than they are, but do you think we could beat them if it came down to it?" Minako continued. "Their teamwork is a lot better and well practiced, while we..." She shrugged her shoulders.

"It doesn't help that we're spending all our free time helping Usagi study." Luna replied.

"Luna!" Usagi yelled. "Are you trying to say I'm dead weight?!"

"No." Chibi-Usa replied. "A bag of sand wouldn't eat or complain as much as you do!"

"Good point." Rei smiled.

"Ack! You're ALL against me!" Usagi wailed.

"Calm down, Usagi-chan." Makoto said reassuringly. "Finals are the day after tomorrow. After that, we can spend more time with our training."

"HAH!!! Then we'll show them that we've earned the right to call ourselves Sailor Senshi!" Minako said, going into an obviously phoney karate stance. "I'll make Haruka admit how awesome the mighty power of Sailor V is!"

"Assuming you convince her to fight blindfolded and with her hands tied." Makoto said.

Minako fell over.

"So much for teamwork." Artemis whispered to Luna. "First they want to work with the Outer Senshi, now they want to beat them up!"

"I don't think that's it, Artemis." Luna said. "I think all Haruka-san and Michiru-san wanted to do was... how would you say it?"

"Light a fire under their asses?"

Luna play-swatted Artemis. "That's not _exactly_ the term I would use, but yes. The competition will make the girls try harder and train better than they have been since Nehelenia's defeat."

"Let's just hope the new enemy decides to wait awhile before launching another attack." Artemis said, knocking on wood for good measure.

*******

After having shown Giva to her quarters, the four mages debated the current situation.

"So who is she?" Malech asked. "Are you two...?"

"No." Hematite flatly stated. "She is no more and no less than what I said earlier, Malech."

"She's pretty cute." Cryo interjected. "Not as beastly as some of their kind I have seen."

"You'd be surprised." Hematite stated. "Beryl didn't pick the youma for her ranks based on their looks. Some are quite attractive."

"Especially their new leader." Malech said with a grin.

Hematite rolled his eyes at the comment.

"You must be tired, I bet you did not get too much sleep after the battle." Cryo said.

"Alright... that's enough of that." Hematite finally said. "I didn't rush back here to verbally spar with all of you, we have work you know."

Malech sighed. Hematite was clearly tired from his journey through the fabric of reality, and probably had little rest from the recent battle fought. Malech sometimes wondered where his comrade found his seemingly limitless reserves. "As I said when I... contacted you, Fluffy was destroyed. The information we gathered was very interesting, though."

"How so?"

"It's all in my report." Malech replied. "The researchers say they are ready to try again in just a few days."

"Won't we need more time to prepare?" Cryo asked.

Hematite slowly brought his axe to within an inch of Cryo's head. "Cryolite, my good man, why in all of creation's name would we need even _more_ time?"

"Because..." Cryo began, gently nudging the axe away with his finger. "...these other soldiers, the ones named after the outer planets, are supposed to be much stronger than the ones we have been going up against so far."

"Cryo has a point." Malech said. "If our Demon Seeds can't even beat the regular Sailor Soldiers yet, then what chance will they have against the other two?"

"Because, Malech, if we are going to test the prototypes, then we need to test them against the best our adversaries can muster." Hematite said as he turned to his comrade. "From what we know, that is the two that saved the others from Fluffy."

"Wait, wasn't there supposed to be another one with them?" Cryo interjected. "A woman with a staff?"

"She hasn't been seen or heard from since the incident with the Infinity Academy months ago." Hematite replied. "And if there **_is_** one for each planet, then that means a fourth we haven't even _seen_ yet."

"Two groups of four each, plus Sailor Moon herself, Tuxedo Mask, _and_ the little one." Malech stated. "God almighty... that's a lot of powerful little girls."

"The sages will not like this news." Thorian flatly stated. "They will now have to work even harder to produce a more effective fighter."

"Bah!" Hematite exclaimed. "The old men could use a challenge instead of just gathering dust in front of their musty books all day and night and playing cards in their spare time."

"You should be pleased, then." Malech said. "They've all been working around the clock on this next bugger."

"Oh?" Hematite said, arching an eyebrow.

"Win, lose, or draw, these "outer soldiers" are going to know that they've been in one hell of a fight."

*******

Three days passed with no incidents on the part of the senshis' new adversaries. In that span of time Usagi and the others focused intently on their studies. To everyones' shock and surprise, Usagi's focus improved. She attacked the books, and her studies, with the single-minded determination of a lemming on the march.

"Th... that's correct!" Ami exclaimed.

"Wow, so how many did she get right?" Makoto asked.

"Sixty-five percent." Ami replied.

"Th... that's a record!" Rei exclaimed.

"For Usagi-chan anyway." Minako added.

"Does that mean I don't have to stay up so late studying anymore?" Usagi asked, almost zombie like. She proceeded to let out a yawn that would have endangered low-flying aircraft had she been on the roof of the house.

"Unfortunately, no." Ami replied. "Usagi-chan, you need at least a seventy-five just to pass." Ami didn't want to state what she was thinking.

"We're doomed."

Rei, on the other hand...

"That's not fair, Rei-chan." Minako responded. "Usagi has been trying so hard lately."

"If only we had a little more time." Makoto said. Worrying as much about her own grades as those of her friend.

"Usagi had her whole life to study." Rei began. "Her legacy was to sit on the throne of Tokyo and bring peace to the world. Now, instead, her legacy will be a pile of the manga she borrowed from me and never returned!" Rei waited for a cry of protest from Usagi, but all that came was a light snoring. Rei turned to see Usagi dozing in a sitting position.

Ami sighed. "We might as well let her sleep a little bit. She _has_ had a long day."

"All right, but two hours and then we brew another pot of coffee." Rei said. "We're going to get Usagi ready for this test even if we have to pour the stuff down her throat with a funnel."

"Your idea for Plan B seems to be working, Rei-chan." Makoto said.

"I agree." Ami said. "The idea of Usagi not seeing Mamoru-san again outside of a battle seems to have motivated her."

"I'm just afraid that if she doesn't pass she'll come over here every day to pray for monster attacks." Rei said sarcastically.

*******

"This is it? Three days preparing and this is the best they could give us?" Malech sighed.

"Why does it always have to be bugs?" Cryo complained. "I hate bugs."

All four battle-mages stood in the center of a rather ordinary warehouse. Ordinary with the exception of all the crystals, potions, machines, and monitoring devices, that had been smuggled in the previous night. There was also the circle on the floor inscribed with various runes, and a very bored rhinoceros beetle in its center that seemed the length of an American football. Other than that, it was a perfectly ordinary warehouse with shipments of handbags waiting to be rushed to the stores that had ordered them. The handbags quietly sat in their crates, doing nothing to interrupt the actions of the mages, which is one of the reasons why the mages chose this warehouse, and not one with something that might get in their way.

"Their bodies are more resilient than those of mammals." Thoriun replied in his usual monotone. "The elders had considered using a reptile, but their cold-blooded nature makes them unsuited for any kind of prolonged physical combat."

"Let's get to it then, there's no sense in putting it off any longer." Malech said.

"And let's see if we can make this one go off a little more smoothly than your last two attempts." Hematite said.

The four battle-mages gathered around the circle of runes and began their chanting. Within moments, the runes began to glow with an un-earthly power. Brighter and brighter they glowed until an almost blinding column of light rose from floor to roof of the warehouse. Through the glowing column the single demon seed slowly dropped from above and passed through the shell of Ringo, who was currently wondering whether it was a good idea to have eaten those mushrooms that had grown in its tank. The light died down and for a moment all was silent.

"So how long is..." Hematite began, before seeing Malech, Cryo, and Thoriun running and diving behind several crates of handbags. "What the h..." was all he managed to get out as a massive explosion proceeded to blast him clear off his feet and onto his back. "Ow... you bastards could have at least warned me." Hematite groaned.

The smoke cleared and from within the center of the circle of runes a huge, black shape emerged. It's body was wide and powerfully armored with chitinous plates. From its head a massive horn emerged that widely branched off in two, while a pair of red eyes stared with apparent menace. The four mages came to attention to await the first words of their newest creation.

"Hi, name's Ringo."

*******

Haruka Tenoh slammed on the gas pedal, propelling her car ahead of the pack. One particularly ambitious driver came in, trying to force her to the side. She wasn't so accommodating. The other driver's recklessness cost him dearly, and as they went into the turn he swerved and crashed into the sidelines. Haruka kept her mind focused, trying to achieve the zen-like state where the entire world became what was on the racetrack. No more. No less. In a race where one drives a car at nearly 200 kph, even the slightest distraction, the slightest drifting of thought, can spell disaster not only for the driver, but everyone around him... or her.

Haruka's mind drifted.

Not having seen the other driver come in, she overcompensated for his move. With only an extra inch turn of the wheel than what was needed, her car had suddenly become a five-hundred kilo projectile that flew with a terrible destructive impact into the wall of the racetrack.

"Something on your mind?" Michiru asked.

"What would make you say something like that?" Haruka asked with all seriousness, trying to ignore the image of a generic-looking digitized racer in full body-cast on the screen of the arcade game.

"You only play games like this when you want to take your mind off of something, and you only crash into walls when you can't." The aqua-haired girl replied.

"Am I that transparent?"

"Let's just say that, I'm glad you're better at clearing your mind before a _real_ race."

Haruka looked at the flaming debris that was once her virtual racing machine and sighed. "I'm getting too predictable." She said, getting up out of the machine.

"Predictability can be a good thing sometimes." Michiru said, walking with her partner out of the arcade. "It can make it easy for those close to you to know if something is wrong."

"And I suppose you know what's bothering me."

"You're worried about them, aren't you?" Michiru replied. "Both of us are."

"I wish there was another way."

"It would be nice if someday we could all relax and not worry about anything, but you know as well as I do, we don't have such a luxury."

"Normal people have their problems, too." Haruka said. "The average person's life is no less challenging, just less dangerous. We all have our responsibilities, now even more than before, and we aren't released from them until we die."

"I wonder." Michiru mused.

"What?"

"Nothing." Michiru said, wishing the subject hadn't taken such a downturn in mood. "I know something that may cheer you up, though."

Haruka stopped cold and looked uncomfortably from side to side. "Isn't there an awful lot of people around here for _that_?"

Michiru rolled her eyes. "That is _NOT_ what I meant, and you know it!" She protested. "Now come on."

Haruka followed, her mood already vastly improved by Michiru's presence. As they walked by, they failed to notice the eight-foot armored creature on the other side of the outdoor mall with its face pressed to a store window.

Malech appeared out of thin air and stood, staring for a moment. There were now more than a few passers by that stopped to stare as well at the strange creature. When Ringo failed to move an inch, Malech finally spoke. "What, exactly, do you think you are doing?"

"It's a drum set.... I've always wonted to play the drums." The creature said.

Maclech sweatdropped.

"I don't 'ave any money on me, you spot me a few pounds 'till Friday?"

"I've got a better deal, you lure out the two Sailor Soldiers we want, then hurt them very badly, and I'll buy you the drum set."

"Really?" That's all I 'ave to do?"

"That's it."

"Groovy... now which way is the ocean?"

"The ocean?" Malech replied, knowing he probably was going to regret doing so.

"Ye said ye wonted sailors, so we got to find me a navy port."

Malech tried desperately not to explode. "Look, just start breaking stuff, okay? Anything will do."

It was at that particular moment that a mall security guard who had been watching the two characters stepped up. "Alright, if you two are part of some kind of store promotion I'm going to have to see a permit. There was some kind of mess at the Shinjuku Mall and the Happy Sunrise Supermarket with some freaks in costumes and we've had to beef up security."

"Start with him." Malech said, pointing at the guard.

"Hey, waitaminute... you're the one that... AHHHHH!!!!" The guard yelled, as he was tossed across the mall and into a ramen cart.

"See how easy that was?" Malech casually said as people ran in all directions screaming. "Now go do that a few more times, and some property damage while you're at it, and we should see the Sailor Soldiers show up soon enough."

"Alright then, should be easy enough to take on a couple sailors. Doesn't seem like a very sporting fight them not 'aving their ships out 'ere and all."

Malech sighed, and wondered just what he'd done to deserve this.

"WORLD... SHAKING!!!"

Malech, thanks in no small part to his extensive combat training, teleported completely out of instinct the second the sound of the attack mantra reached his ears. This was a good thing for him as the deadly yellow sphere passed through where he had been only a second ago and slammed with full devastating force into the unsuspecting Ringo. Malech reappeared several meters away from where he had been in time to nearly be blasted out of the air from the shockwave of the explosion. He looked and saw the exact two whom he had wanted.

"I'll be damned, fate must be in a good mood today." He said, looking up to see the two figures standing upon the roof of a store.

"Invited by the new age, I am the magnificent Sailor Uranus."

"Invited by the new age, I am the elegant Sailor Neptune."

"This is the third time you've shown your face to stage some kind of ridiculous attack." Uranus stated.

"Who are you and what purpose are you serving by doing this?" Neptune demanded.

Malech looked up at the two senshi for a moment with a cocked eyebrow, and began to clap his hands nonchalantly. "Yes... yes... you're both very impressive looking." He said, ignoring their questions entirely. "You obviously neither have self-esteem issues with a speech like that. I wonder if you have the power to back up your claims of magnificence with my friend here, though."

With that, both Senshi looked to see Ringo lumbering to a standing position. The only visible damage to his body was a minor scuff where Uranus's attack had struck. "Ere, are those the sailors I was supposed to hurt?"

"Go get em, mate!"

Ringo scratched his head for a moment. "They don't right look like any sailors I've ever seen, you sure that's them?"

"Yes!" Malech said, beginning to lose his temper.

"DEEP... SUBMERGE!!!"

"Alright, you're the... WHOAH!!!" Ringo was once again knocked back with the force of a tidal wave. Shaking his head, the giant beetle once again got back up to his feet.

"Uranus..."

"I know, this one is _way_ stronger than the last one." Uranus replied.

"Do me a favor luv?" Ringo said, looking at the outer senshi.

"Huh?" Uranus asked, somewhat surprised.

"Would you mind standing right there for about a minute or so?"

"Err... why?" Neptune asked.

"Need to hurt you two a lot, it'd make me job a lot easier if you didn't run away or anything."

Uranus and Neptune bigsweatted while Malech tried to hide his face in shame.

Ringo, wasting no more words, charged horn-first at the senshi, his crashing footsteps reverberating across the floor as he stampeded forward. Uranus and Neptune easily jumped over the creature, which made no attempt to either stop, slow down, or turn, and proceeded to crash through a small tree in the median like it was a blade a grass.

"Powerful, but not too bright, is he?" Uranus smiled.

"Yaaaaaaaaah!!!" The giant beetle cried, as it once again ran with incredible power toward his targets, who once again easily dodged the charge. This time Ringo smashed through the front of the music store and right through the wall inside. Ringo got up and looked at the remains of the drum set he'd been eying earlier. He stood silently for a moment, and finally leaned over, picking up one of the broken drums. A single tear fell from his red eye over his crushed dreams as a rock musician.

"If you don't mind, we'd like to get this over with today." Uranus yelled.

"I don't think that was a good idea." Neptune whispered to her partner.

Before Uranus could ask why, Ringo crushed the remains of the drum in his hand. Crying out in bloody rage, he charged again, this time much, _much_ faster. Neither of the senshi had time to move out of the way quickly enough. Each was caught in one of the creature's massive hands as it stampeded between the two of them. Uranus and Neptune kicked and punched the creature's arms with all their strength trying to break its grip to no avail. Each arm was like a steel girder. The monster, holding both senshi out in front of it, crashed through the front of another store. Glass, display racks, and brick and mortar had been smashed with the senshis' own bodies acting as the battering rams. Crashing through the back wall of the store and through the front of yet another that was behind the first, Ringo then hurled both battered warriors across another median as if they weighed nothing. Neptune crashed into the middle of a fountain, while Uranus slammed into the statue that was in its center, breaking off an arm where her head had collided with it.

*******

"Yes... yes... he's fighting them now." Malech said into his cell phone. Magical projection and telepathic communication were all well and good in the middle-ages and practice sessions, Malech thought to himself, but in actual field operations it was usually best to go the more efficient route when communicating with someone on the same dimensional plane as oneself. "Well, I have to admit, we are definitely on the right track in terms of raw power. The bugger is about as fragile as an eighty-ton Tiger II. Right, unfortunately, he also seems to be about as light on his feet as one. Oh no, he can move fast as hell when he gets good and riled, but agility seems to be a problem. Well, there's also the slight problem upstairs. Yes, he's a little dim and a good bit unstable. Do I think he could kill them? It's entirely possible, assuming the other shielas don't show up anytime soon. Wot? You're joking?!" Malech sighed. "Alright then, if you insist."

*******

"Haruka... HARUKA!!!"

Haruka could here her beautiful partner's voice. How tragic, she thought, that her eyes should be full of tears and worry. Haruka could feel herself being carried off of the motercross track. Her leg, among other things, was broken, and probably her future as a track star along with it. Haruka could only smile. Even sad, Michiru's face was the most beautiful thing she could ever imagine. She hated putting her through such terrible worry. She'd have to be more careful on the track, she supposed. She felt like she should be in some horrible pain from her injuries, but she felt strangely light and at ease. Something was wrong. She tried to tell Michiru that she was going to be all right, but she couldn't seem to speak, or even move as they carried her. Michiru was crying even more now, her tears and desperation pouring forth, but her voice growing more distant. "Michiru!" Haruka tried to cry out. No one could hear her. Their faces were beginning to fade away. Haruka panicked. No. It wasn't fair. She had spent so much of her life so alone, so isolated. She felt such pain every day of being unable to get close to anyone. There was nothing, no torture worse than being alone in a crowd. It wasn't fair that she should just now find somebody she loved so much and be taken away so soon. Darkness began to surround Haruka. She suddenly felt cold, so terribly cold. Cold that seeped into her body, chilling her inside, numbing her. "Michiru! Please, help me! Michiru!!!" Haruka cried out once more, she cried out with all her strength, cried out with every emotion she had left for nothing more than to feel Michiru's warmth again.

_*******_

Sailor Uranus bolted up, nearly coughing up the entire contents of the water fountain. She had been underwater. The dark blackness she had seen was the dark blue tiles on the bottom. She shivered slightly and began to pull herself up. She focused every ounce of her diminished strength toward standing, despite every instinct that told her to stay down. She refused to lay down and die so easily and forced her head up through the cloud of pain to meet the gaze of her opponent. Her vision was blurry, and she could swear there were now two of the monstrous creatures standing before her. She shook the cobwebs away and straightened herself, trying not to fall down again. Behind her, she heard coughing from her partner. Neptune, too, rose to her feet. Neither one looked like they could do much more. Both looked at the monster that had been patiently waiting for them to stand so he could take all the more pleasure in smashing them into the ground again. Both senshi went into a fighting stance, ready for another round. Ringo didn't disappoint them, and charged yet again like the very animal the rhinoceros beetle was named after. Uranus and Neptune dodged in different directions this time. Momentarily confused as to which way to turn, the monster paused and then came around to see the Outers behind it.

"WORLD... SHAKING!!!"

"DEEP... SUBMERGE!!!"

Ringo braced himself as both attacks struck simultaneously, sending the behemoth flying clear off its feet and its massive body crashing through the fountain statue as if it were a sand sculpture. Both Neptune and Uranus fell to their knees. They had both launched everything they had had left. Although greatly weakened, the combined attacks were still more than either one could manage alone. No monster they had ever faced in the past could have withstood that level of power. Ringo, shook his head and got up again, his chitinous armor scratched and marred, but otherwise undamaged. The unstoppable force reared again for yet another charge, but this time Malech appeared between him and the Outer Senshi.

"That's enough of that, mate." The mage said. "Time to go home now."

Ringo looked with apparent menace at the Outer Senshi, whom he knew would not be able to avoid another attack. He then turned his gaze back toward Malech and sighed. With a wave of Malech's hand, they were both gone.

Uranus, shakily, got to her feet. Neptune followed.

"I... don't think I like this." Uranus said, coughing blood. "Why... would they retreat when... we didn't have anything left?"

"I hate to admit it... but I think we may be the ones who need the others' help."

Uranus didn't have an answer. Hearing the police sirens, and with nothing left to be done here, she and Neptune left.

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Next chapter...

The seemingly indestructible Ringo, having already beaten the outer senshi once, is sent out yet again, but this time with the mission to draw out and defeat _all_ the senshi, no matter the cost. Things don't go as planned and Uranus and Neptune must somehow hold off alone against the unstoppable titan as all the others are... err... taking their exams.

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Author's notes:

Yeah, I know this chapter is incredibly late, and I said in the last chapter that this would be the one where the senshi take their exams. The fight with Ringo went a little longer than I thought so I split what would have been one really huge chapter into two more manageable ones. Also, the translations of Uranus and Neptune's entrance speeches were based on the ones from Hitoshi Doi's website, rather than the ones found in my VKLL fansubs. Thanks to Janelle for helping to point out the more acurate one.

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Thanks go to...

Naoko Takeuchi, Toei Animation, Studio Chikashitsu, Mountain Dew, Hitoshi Doi, VKLL, Pioneer, Golden's Field Guid to Rocks and Minerals, and Macintosh Computers (think different).

Other thanks go to...

Jannelle Himenez, John Biles, and Jeff Hosmer, for writing what would be my very first exposures to fanfiction, and doing a good enough job to inspire me to take up writing. My favorite authors, Douglas Adams, Dean Koontz, Stephen King, J.R.R. Tolkien, and many others. All the guys I "convinced" to help me proofread this story (especially Cristal). The guys who made the "Deadlock" strategy game for an alien computer opponent that trash-talks me right before he razes my colony to the ground. The makers of "Master of Orion 2", for a strategy game that lets me live out all my megalomaniacal universe-destroying fantasies in a game, thus saving innocent alien armadas the possibility of me going out into space and doing it for real. The guy(s) that invented the internet, you rule. 


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